Chapter Twenty-Three
He couldn’t breathe.
He could hardly think or see, either. All he could do was feel, and what he felt went beyond words. Anguish. Grief. Horror. Pain. Agony. Anything that encompassed the torment in his heart was what he was feeling.
His spirit was dying.
Everything was dying.
It was dawn on an annoyingly bright spring day, much as the previous days had dawned bright and lovely.
But today was anything but lovely. It was dark and horrific.
Athdara was upstairs, horribly wounded and being tended to by Ming Tang and a physic from Exebridge, and all Tay could do was sit there and wait for them to tell him that she was gone.
But he wasn’t waiting alone.
Fox, Sinclair, Kristian, Aamir, St. Sebastian, and St. Denis were with him, like part of some ghoulish vigil, waiting for the arrival of death. Tay didn’t want them there, but he couldn’t summon the energy to tell them to leave, so they all sat around, staring at each other, staring at him.
He hated it.
He hated all of it.
Tay hadn’t said a word since Athdara had been brought back to his cottage, mortally wounded.
Ming Tang had been carrying her, and all he could tell Tay was that he found her in the stable.
A man had tried to kill her, but she’d killed him instead.
Word had spread about the attack, and quickly, Fox and Sinclair arrived, wanting to know what had happened.
Tay couldn’t tell them. Aamir and St. Denis arrived, demanding to know what had happened.
Tay still couldn’t tell them. Marina, who had been asleep in the attic when Athdara was brought back, was now running about like a madwoman, gathering water and anything else the physic needed.
Even now, Tay could hear her heavy footsteps overhead.
He felt as if he was living a nightmare.
For hours, he hadn’t said a word. He simply sat in a chair, elbows on his knees and leaning his chin into his clasped hands.
He was staring at the fire as if hypnotized by it.
As the sun rose and the groups of recruits began to train all over the Blackchurch compound, Tay continued to sit.
Bowen even came to see why he’d not shown up for his session, but Fox muttered a few words to the man and sent him away.
Bowen would handle the session today.
Once he was gone and the cottage became the site of a vigil once again, a pounding on the cottage door pierced the silence. Fox went to open it, and Payne appeared, holding a frightened servant by the scruff of his neck. He dragged the man into Tay’s common room.
“I found him,” Payne announced. “He was in the stable when the lady was attacked and saw the whole thing. Tay, this man has something tae tell ye!”
That snapped Tay out of his trance. He turned to see one of the stable servants cowering in terror, and he rose unsteadily from his chair.
As he focused on the servant, Sinclair spoke to Payne. “And the body of the man who attacked the lady?” he asked. “Where is it?”
Payne grunted. “Creston and Cruz took care of it,” he said. “The man is food for the fish now. But the priests in town have caught wind of what happened, and they’re demanding the bones.”
Sinclair frowned. “How did the priests from Exebridge hear about this attack?”
Payne shrugged. “When the physic was summoned,” he said. “Servants talk, ye know. They’ll tell anyone who will listen. Word travels, Sin. Ye know that.”
“Where are Cres and Cruz now?”
“Tellin’ the priests that the coming of Christ will happen sooner than the appearance of that bastard’s bones.”
Sinclair lifted his eyebrows, looking to St. Denis, who simply waved him off. Such was a man’s ending when he displeased Blackchurch. It had been that way for decades.
Cause an offense at Blackchurch and one’s body was never seen again.
“You,” Tay said to the servant. “You were there when the lady was wounded?”
All attention abruptly turned to the terrified servant, who nodded unsteadily. “Aye, my lord,” he said. “I am tasked with sleeping with the animals at night. In case something happens. I was there.”
Tay was trying desperately to keep his composure. “But where have you been?” he demanded. “The soldiers at the north gate said you came running to them in a panic about what happened in the stable, and then you disappeared. We had to send Payne out to find you.”
The servant took a deep breath. “I… I was afraid, my lord,” he said. “Afraid that someone might try to kill me, too.”
Tay sighed sharply. “There is no more killing to be done today,” he said. “Tell me what you know about the attack on the lady, and do not leave anything out.”
The servant swallowed. “I was awoken by sounds of a fight, my lord,” he said.
“I had been sleeping, so I did not hear if anything was said. I woke up and they were fighting. So much fighting. Then the man stabbed the woman, and she killed him with his dagger. I heard her ask for help before she fell. That is all I can tell you, my lord, I swear it.”
“Tay,” Fox said softly. “Good Christ…”
Tay looked over at his colleague, who seemed increasingly horrified. “What?” he demanded. “What is it?”
Fox seemed genuinely distressed. “It is possible…” he said, then paused before resuming. “Tay, is it possible this was not a random attack?”
“Be plain, man.”
Fox cocked an eyebrow. “Think about it,” he said. “Remember the bounty hunter those weeks ago? Remember that he told us there was another, but we could never find him?”
Tay’s eyes widened. “My God,” he breathed. “He was here all along. The second bounty hunter was here at Blackchurch!”
Fox could only nod as the attack began to make some sense. “He must have made it inside the walls somehow,” he said. “He knew she was here—the other bounty hunter knew she was here—so he made it inside, and he finally found her.”
Tay was feeling even sicker at the realization. “That must have been what happened,” he said. “But how did she end up in the stable? I do not understand why she was there in the middle of the night.”
At that point, St. Sebastian threw his father a long look, but St. Denis refused to look at him.
They knew exactly why Athdara had been in the stable.
The only other person who knew was Ming Tang, and he was in the chamber with her upstairs, trying to save her life.
St. Sebastian very much wanted to tell Tay what he knew, but he wasn’t like his brother.
He didn’t override his father or disobey orders.
He kept silent, but he didn’t think it was the right thing to do.
Tay was trying to make sense out of a horrific situation.
But it was possible that knowing why she was there would bring him even more grief.
Perhaps it was better not to tell him.
At least, not now.
As St. Sebastian wrestled with the dilemma, Ming Tang appeared on the stairs. Tay’s focus shifted from the frightened servant to his friend in an instant. He almost ran Ming Tang down in his haste to reach him.
“Is she dead?” he demanded. “God, don’t tell me that she’s dead.”
Ming Tang held up a hand. “Calm yourself, my friend,” he said. “She is not dead. She is awake, and she is asking for you. But I must speak to you first.”
All of the color drained out of Tay’s face, and he put his hand over his mouth as if to hold in whatever cry of pain or relief he was feeling. It threatened to burst out of him at any second. But he nodded to Ming Tang, still keeping his hand over his mouth.
“She is not dead, but the wound is very bad,” Ming Tang said.
“When the dagger penetrated her, it cut into her vital innards. But it was worse when she pulled it out—the dagger had a jagged edge, and it pulled some of those innards with it. The physic and I think we have put everything back where it belongs, and we have cleaned the wound and stitched it tightly, but she has lost a good deal of blood. I do not know what her fate is. For now, we must wait and see. She is a very sick lady. Do you understand what I have told you?”
Tay nodded and dropped his hand from his mouth. “I do,” he said, sounding rather weak. “May I speak with her now?”
Ming Tang nodded. “Not for long,” he said. “She must rest.”
“I will not be long, I promise.”
“Do not speak of Toxandria or her journey. She still wants to go, but clearly, she cannot.”
“I will not speak of it.”
“All you will speak of is her recovery.”
“Has she told you who did this to her?”
Ming Tang hesitated. “She did,” he said. “She said it was a bounty hunter she recognized.”
Somewhere behind Tay, Fox hissed as their suspicions were confirmed. Tay didn’t know if he felt better or worse about that.
“But he is dead,” he growled. “He is the only one we knew of, so there cannot be any more.”
“Let us hope not,” Ming Tang said. “But do not press her about it, please. If she wants to tell you, she will. We must keep her calm.”
Tay nodded wearily. Summoning his strength, he headed up the stairs and into his bedchamber.
He’d put her in this room because the bed was bigger and there was more room to work for whatever healing she needed.
The chamber was dim and smelled heavily of cloves and peppermint, thought to purify the air of bad spirits that could hinder healing.
He could see the physic from Exebridge standing at the head of the bed with Marina next to him, holding a bowl with rags in it.
The moment Tay set foot in the chamber, Athdara’s head turned in his direction.
“Tay,” she said weakly.
She extended her right arm to him, and he quickly came into the chamber, reaching out to take her hand.
Ming Tang had told him that she must be kept calm, so he smiled warmly at her as he took a knee beside the bed.
He held her hand in both of his, bringing it to his lips for a few gentle kisses and trying desperately not to let his sadness overwhelm him.
“I am here, love,” he said softly. “I am here and I will not leave you.”